Burlington Bertie From Bow 1915 Ella Shields

by James Pitt-Payne, London UK - 14 Feb 2005

I'm Bert, p'raps you've heard of me
Bert, you've had word of me,
Jogging along, hearty and strong
Living on plates of fresh air
I dress up in fashion
And when I am feeling depressed
I shave from my cuff
all the whiskers and fluff
Stick my hat on and toddle up West

I'm Burlington Bertie,
I rise at ten thirty
And saunter along like a toff
I walk down the Strand
with my gloves on my hand
Then I walk down again with them off
I'm all airs and graces,
correct easy paces
Without food so long
I've forgot where my face is
I'm Bert, Bert, I haven't a shirt
But my people are well off you know.
Nearly everyone knows me
from Smith to Lord Rosebr'y,
I'm Burlington Bertie from Bow.

I stroll with Lord Hurlington,
Roll in The Burlington
Call for Champagne,
walk out again
Come back and borrow the ink
I live most expensive
Like Tom Lipton I'm in the swim
He's got so much 'oof',
that he sleeps on the roof
And I live in the room over him.

I'm Burlington Bertie,
I rise at ten thirty
And saunter along Temple Bar
As round there I skip
I keep shouting 'Pip Pip!'
And the darn'd fools think I'm in my car
At Rothchilds I swank it
My body I plank it
On his front door step with
'The Mail' for a blanket
I'm Bert, Bert, and Rothchild was hurt
He said 'You can't sleep there'
I said 'Oh'
He said 'I'm Rothchild sonny!'
I said 'That's damn'd funny,
I'm Burlington Bertie from Bow'

I smile condescendingly
While they're extending me
Cheer upon cheer when I appear
Captain with my polo team
So strict are my people
They're William the Conqueror's strain
If they ever knew I'd been talking to you
Why they'd never look at me again

I'm Burlington Bertie,
I rise at ten thirty
And reach Kempton Park around three
I stand by the rail,
when a horse is for sale
And you ought to see Wooton watch me
I lean on some awning
while Lord Derby's yawning
Then he bids two thousand
and I bid Good Morning
I'm Bert, Bert, I'd buy one, a cert
But where would I keep it you know
I can't let my man see me
in bed with a geegee
I'm Burlington Bertie from Bow!

My pose, Tho' ironical
Shows that my monocle
Holds up my face,
keeps it in place,
Stops it from slipping away.
Cigars, I smoke thousands,
I usually deal in The Strand
But you've got to take care
when you're getting them there
Or some idiot might stand on your hand.

I'm Burlington Bertie,
I rise at ten thirty
And Buckingham Palace I view.
I stand in the yard
while they're changing the guard
And the queen shouts across "Toodle oo"!
The Prince of Wales' brother
along with some other
Slaps me on the back and says
"Come and see Mother"
But I'm Bert, Bert, and Royalty's hurt,
When they ask me to dine I say no.
I've just had a banana with Lady Diana
I'm Burlington Bertie from Bow.

Soft karaoke
Words
piano 1
piano 2
piano 3
piano 4
lyric
pizz str bass
*
Burlington Bertie From Bow 1915 Ella Shields
written and composed by William Hargreaves
© 1915 B. Feldman & Co. Ltd. London
*
sequence and karaoke by James Pitt-Payne, London UK
on Monday 14 February 2005 at 18.41
in association with Doug Grierson
*
I have set this at a high tempo as it was written as a
midi-karaoke file and the average person would wish to follow the
words through rather than attempt a performance. For singers
of the Music Hall idiom slow the speed in the vanbasco player by
100% for the sing-along tempo. Ella Shields would have taken
9 minutes to sing this song which would fill her place
in the program to perfection.
*